The New Woman

The New Woman

The idea of moving into an unknown path sometimes at accelerating rates, can be uncomfortable. The "New Woman" is a part of this. This feminist construct was a new and scary idea being introduced in the 19th century. Sexual openness and aggressiveness had not been seen from the female perspective, nor was it typically appropriate for women to be shown in this light. Stoker brings forth an aggressive view of the Victorian woman. The idea that our "Angel in the House" is now, for a lack of better words, the "Devil in the Streets". We see these ideas are best depicted through the female vampires, Lucy, and Mina. 

Jonathan Harker, fears the female vampires more than the Count. Upon seeing these three female vampires for the first time, Harker mentions in fear, "All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips. There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips." Like the Victorian New Woman, these female monsters are perverse, unnatural, and horrifying, as they neglect to conform to what traditional Victorian society expects of its women.
Stoker focuses on Lucy and Mina to set the stage for this idea in the idea that the New Woman exists in both of them, but contain different meanings. In Lucy's vampirized state, she no longer suppresses her desire, rather it fully takes affect when she takes multiple blood transfusions from different men, and request that they kiss her on different occasions. Further, she preys on a child and speaks of her desire for Holmwood.The choice of Dracula's victim also shows how Victorian society did not view women as individuals. What I mean by this is that they did not view them as autonomous beings. Instead, they were extension of the men that they were the property of. 

The prime example is how Dracula chooses not to attack Jonathan himself. Instead of attacking Jonathan directly, he attacks Jonathan's wife; taking advantage of  Mina and making her "unclean". Mina can only be protected Jonathan, Van Helsing and several others to defeat the monster that tainted her. It is only through the death of Dracula that Mina's honor and purity can be restored (This change also becomes evident in the movie with the change of colorism). Mina represents traditional Victorian womanhood but also feels the effects of vampirism/ New Womanhood. 

Dracula seduces her, forcing her to drink his blood while her husband sleeps in the same bed. The patriarchy comes to Mina’s rescue. As the vampire’s, or New Woman’s, influence over Mina grows, Dr. Seward metaphorically sees the New Woman overcoming the traditional woman. The role of Stoker’s male characters is to prevent the acceptance of the New Woman by keeping women in their place, and, hence, the patriarchy in order. To do this, the men must destroy Dracula. Van Helsing chooses to fight the vampire to save the patriarchy.

At the novel’s end, by destroying Dracula, Van Helsing and the men destroy vampirism and, metaphorically, the New Woman, preserving the sanctity of womanhood and the patriarchal order. Stoker’s novel is therefore anti-New Woman and antifeminist.